Chocolate!

Yossy Arefi’s chocolate cheesecake with raspberry swirl.Credit…Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Valentine’s Day, for those who celebrate, is just a couple days away, when legal limits on chocolate-gobbling are temporarily suspended. In anticipation, and because chocolate just happens to be next up on my BIF (Best Ingredients Forever) List, let us now explore the fudgy wiles of the divine cacao bean.

Considering going a little dark this holiday? Then give serious thought to Yossy Arefi’s new recipe for chocolate cheesecake with raspberry swirl. This dense, rich cake, with a texture somewhere between a flan and a chocolate truffle, is crowned with puddles of fruity jam. You bake the cheesecake at a low temperature, so you can skip the usual water bath without worrying about cracks on the top. This dessert keeps well in the fridge, so avoid last-minute fussing and make it tonight or tomorrow to serve on Friday. Then snack languorously all weekend long.

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Chocolate Cheesecake With Raspberry Swirl

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Still more of Yossy’s bittersweet brilliance can be found in her chocolate pound cake with strawberry whipped cream. You often see this classic V-Day pairing in chocolate-covered strawberries (check out Eric “Big Dipper” Kim’s great recipe). But Yossy flips the script by baking the chocolate into a tender-crumbed pound cake, then covers it in a drift of strawberry-flavored whipped cream. Sliced fresh berries at the peak show you what you’re in for.

For a shareable treat that scales easily, Lidey Heuck’s brownies are simple-to-make paragons of the form. Their gooey-in-the-middle, crackling-on-top texture comes from dissolving the sugar in butter before adding the chocolate. Use semisweet, bittersweet or a mix to dial in the sweetness you like.